Danny Masterson was deemed a ‘flight risk’ & denied bail pending his appeal

11 months ago 61
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Justice for Danny Masterson’s victims was delayed for years, but now that Masterson is officially a convicted rapist, it pleases me to see that Masterson isn’t getting “celebrity treatment” by the justice system. Last May, Masterson was convicted of two out of three rape charges. In September, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Just days after his sentencing, Bijou Phillips filed for divorce, and she seems very concerned about their joint assets. His conviction is currently being appealed, but Masterson will not be allowed out on bail while the appeal works its way through the system. The judge even cited his divorce as a reason why Masterson should not be allowed out on bail.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge today denied bail pending appeal to convicted rapist Danny Masterson with worries the That 70s Show actor could make a run for it.

“If defendant’s conviction and sentence are upheld on appeal, he will likely remain in custody for decades and perhaps the rest of his life,” wrote Judge Charlaine Olmedo in an order Wednesday. “In light of the fact that defendant has no wife to go home to, defendant now has every incentive to flee and little reason to return to state prison to serve out the remainder of his lengthy sentence should his appeal be unsuccessful,” the judge added in reference to the ongoing divorce proceedings between Masterson and Bijou Phillips.

Transferred to North Kern State Prison in late December, the 47-year-old Masterson is currently serving a 30-year to life sentence on dual rape convictions. Under present Golden State statutes, he will be eligible for parole in 20 years. Not long after Masterson was sentenced in September and taken into custody, Phillips, who had been in court every day for her husband and was a strong advocate for him, filed for divorce. The couple have a young daughter, who has been placed entirely in Phillips’ custody, a well-placed source tells Deadline.

Masterson was first arrested in 2020 over the then alleged assaults that occurred between 2001 and 2003. After his arrest, and during his first and second trials, The Ranch actor was out on bail of $3 million. When the damning guilty verdict was delivered om May 31, the potential “flight risk,” as the judge said at the time, was led out of court and into the nearby Twin Towers LA County jail by sheriff’s deputies.

Supported by prosecutors in the LA County District Attorney’s office, the decision by Judge Olmedo to deny the actor his freedom while he appeals came after a hearing this morning in DTLA’s Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.

[From Deadline]

Is Danny Masterson a flight risk? I don’t know. He stuck around long enough for two full trials (one of which ended in mistrial), but yeah, I can understand the argument of “he has no reason to stick around.” I’m glad he was denied bail and I really just hope that he rots in prison for the rest of his life.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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